


X-mas More Like Xanemarth

by xanemarths



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Shin Ankoku Ryuu to Hikari no Ken | Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, Fire Emblem: Shin Monshō no Nazo | Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Family Reunions, Ice Skating, Other, Sledding, Ugly Holiday Sweaters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-02
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-04 11:39:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 14,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5332814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xanemarths/pseuds/xanemarths
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An attempt at a twenty-five days of Christmas series; a prompt a day. No specific chronological order.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sweaters

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't been this excited for writing a 25 days of Christmas thing since I was around 13 and writing Soul Eater fanfic... Here's to hoping this is much better

It started with a sweater. A cheap, tacky thing, made with gaudy, scratchy yarn in terrible colors, with an image on the front meant to resemble a Christmas tree. Xane grinned very wide as xe showed the hideous thing off to Marth, pressing a button on the sweater that caused all the lights on the shirt's tree to turn on. "It's _awful_ ," Marth commented, grimacing visibly at the sight; a statement which only made Xane laugh.

"You have heard of ugly Christmas sweaters, haven't you, Princey?" Xe asked, turning around so Marth could catch a glimpse at the full thing - the prince shuddered and averted his gaze.  
Kris passed by at that moment, arms laden with boxes of holiday decorations for the castle. "Nice, yes, but, it needs a little something more," he commented, setting down the boxes. He pulled out a small red ornament from one, hooked it onto Xane's sweater, and picked up the boxes once more before continuing, leaving Marth flabbergasted and Xane quite proud.

"It's even worse than before."

"I know! Isn't it great!?"

* * *

Thus did the day continue. As Xane went about xir daily mischief, a surprising number of people found xem suddenly interesting. The rest of Kris' platoon all added ornaments; Rody stayed a moment longer to make another ornament, claiming that he used to do so with his sisters. Katarina left a discarded tree topper on xir head. At some point Caeda came by, giggled at xir outfit, and added a spare pair of reindeer horns, tucking them into xir headband. Tiki joined in the fun readily enough, for once actually seeming to enjoy Xane's antics, and left xem covered head to toe in tinsel. Even the older knights, Cain and Frey and all the rest, seemed to enjoy adding things to the sweater - poinsettias and holly and garlands...

It wasn't until Jagen came by, carrying strings of Christmas lights, that Xane realized that, perhaps, this hadn't been the wisest plan.

* * *

"Help me, Princey."

Marth, who had been trying to avoid the sight of Xane as much as possible, was suddenly forced to look at xem - and what a sight xe was. "Xane! What happened to you?" he exclaimed, hurrying to pull the tangled strings of lights off the shapeshifter.

"Well, funny story, I think your old paladin is goin' a bit blind there, because he just started wrappin' those lights around me - and he must be deaf, as well, to be ignorin' my complaints-"

"I meant with the outfit," Marth said.

Xane blinked. "Oh. Awww, Princey, it's just the Christmas spirit! And ugly sweaters are part of that!"

"Not in this household, Xane. That is enough for one season."


	2. Skating

It wasn't fair, the shapeshifter thought to xirself as xe slowly pushed xirself back up, only for xir limbs to slip out from under them and for xem to faceplant on the ice once more. Grumpily, so very grumpily, Xane looked up from the frozen lake, scowling as xe caught sight of a certain blue haired prince, who was currently making his rounds about the rink.... backwards.

When xe had suggested ice skating, and Marth had replied that he hadn't skated in years, this hadn't been the anticipated outcome. Marth had taken to the rink like a duck to the water, while Xane.... Well, Xane, even after over a millennium to practice as a human, still couldn't get the hang of it. True, Marth had fallen several times, as well, but not as often as Xane, and never as hard. The shapeshifter had expected someone just as bad as xe was, someone to share in the misery of constant falls!

The scowl deepened as xe finally righted xirself. What kind of human skated backwards immediately after not skating for years? Marth was good at a lot of things, true, but this was just pushing it a bit too far.

The ice slipped under xem again, and Xane struggled futilely to remain upright for a moment before crashing and landing straight on xir hind end. Xe gave a weak cry at the impact on xir already bruising tailbone, before edging towards the edge of the rink so xe could grab onto one of the hay bales that surrounded it and right xirself that way.

As if xir ancestors didn't already hate xem enough, Xane could feel something pull in xir hand as xe struggled to get back up, and xe whimpered in pain.

At this exact moment, Marth circled back around to xem, stopping as soon as he reached xem. "Are you all right?" He asked, picking Xane up by the back of xir shirt, which only added to xir embarrassment.

"'M fine, Princey," xe said, pulling away from Marth's helping hand, staring at him for a moment. "And you're sure this is your first time, right?"

The note of bitterness hadn't meant to be in there, but it came out nonetheless. If Marth detected it, though, it didn't show on his face. "Well, I skated a few times when I was really little, but this is the first time in years," he admitted, shrugging at the question.

Xane squinted in disbelief. "Then how'd you get so good at balancin' on ice?"

The prince looked around himself, before shrugging again. "I don't know. I think I have good balance in general, though. That helps a lot, probably."

"And what about your backwards skatin'? That ain't easy for most humans, an' here you are, spinnin' circles around us all!"

Marth was quiet for a moment, shuffling his skates. "I can't skate forward," he admitted after a moment.

That was enough to get Xane to pause. "You. You what," xe stuttered.

"I can't skate forward," Marth repeated, turning back to the ice and pushing off forward. "Here. Let me show you."

Sure enough, after a moment, Marth's skating slid to a stop, whereas before he had moved quickly and effortlessly across the ice. Again, and again, he pushed forward; each time, he only quickly grinded to a halt.

Xane was utterly stumped. "All right. What the hell, Princey."

Marth scratched the back of his neck, looking quite embarrassed. "Well, I'm sort of pigeon toed... My feet usually point inwards, just a bit. And that's exactly how you're supposed to stop skating. When I try and move forward, I just stop again. Moving backwards is just the only way for me to go..."

As if to demonstrate, he began skating backwards once again, keeping a careful eye on where he was going. Sure enough, just as before, he sped around the rink with relative ease. "The only problem is watching where I'm going, really, " he finished as he circled back to Xane. "I wouldn't want to bump into anyone."

Slowly, the shapeshifter shook xir head in amazement.

Humans sure were something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can personally attest to being in Marth's position here. Skating forward is absolutely impossible when your feet try to make you stop.
> 
> ...I can also attest to having pulled a muscle in my hand trying to get back up in an ice rink once.


	3. Cookie Baking

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Of course! If Caeda can do it, so can the two of us. It should be simple enough; there's instructions for literally every step of the way! Nothing can go wrong."

When the words nothing can go wrong are said, it usually means something is about to go very wrong - and so it did on that cold and wintry morning.

"All right - eggs, sugar, baking soda, flour...."

While Marth listed off ingredients, Xane scurried about the pantry to find them. For the most part, they were easy to find and grab; all were carefully labelled, and most were at eye level.  
And then there was the flour.

For whatever reason, someone had thought it a good idea to put the flour only one shelf from the top of the pantry; at five feet, Xane's fingers could barely brush the packaging. But xe was a dragon, and a stubborn one; there was no need to shapeshift into someone taller, nor grab something to stand on, when xe could just move it a little bit closer...

"Xane? Did you find the fl-"

Marth's question was interrupted by a dull thud as the package fell off the shelf and onto Xane's head, splitting open and dumping it's contents all over xem.

"...Yeah."

It took Marth a moment to process what had just happened; then, shaking his head and sighing, he crossed the room and picked up the flour-covered shapeshifter. "What ever am I going to do with you, Xane..."

Apparently, he was going to take xem to one of the castle's bathrooms to let xem soak in a tub to wash out the flour, while he cleaned up all evidence of them ever having been in the kitchen.

Caeda would never have to know.

* * *

Marth was vigorously drying Xane's hair when Caeda poked her head in. "All right. What did you two do, that I had to fly out into town today for a new bag of flour after I _just_ bought one a few days ago?"

"...I don't know what you're talking about?"

"Marth don't lie to me we've known each other for over fifteen years now I know when you're not telling the truth you get this look on your face - now don't you give me that hurt puppy look _what did you do_ -"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Caeda always knows.
> 
> And here you thought they were going to succeed in cookie making.


	4. Sledding

If Xane ever advertised anything as a good and fun idea, for most, this would be a sure sign to run. Marth, however, was more trusting in the trickster’s ability to tell the truth (at least sometimes), and so he readily agreed to go sledding with xem that day. As Xane said; it would be fun, and it would be a well deserved break from his paperwork.

They had only one sled, painted bright red with golden trim, a very festive looking thing indeed. Xane couldn’t remember when it had last been used, and Marth didn’t question. It looked almost brand new, at least, and it was sturdy and large enough for the two of them. Xane insisted on sitting on it while Marth dragged it up one of the larger hills near the castle, so the climb up was perhaps a little bit harder than it should have been, but otherwise, it was quite nice.

So Marth thought, until they reached the top, and he let go of the sled before it was on the top of the hill, as well.

Xane let out a very long screech as xe shot backwards down the hill, clinging to the sled for dear life. Marth raced after xem, ending up tumbling most of the way down himself. The shapeshifter was unharmed, if perhaps a bit shaken, thankfully enough.

Xe didn’t insist on being on the sled again as they trudged their way back up the hill.

This time, Marth made sure that the sled was also on the top of the hill before letting go, allowing both himself and Xane to safely climb on. As the shorter of the two, Xane sat in front, holding onto the rope while Marth pushed them off and down the hill.

Perhaps it was his imagination, but Marth was fairly certain they went speeding down the hill a whole lot faster now that he was on it, as well. Trees and rocks sped by, and Xane let out another one of xir lizard screams as they nearly crashed into one.

“Left!” Marth yelled, and Xane tugged on the sled’s rope - “The other left!”

“That’s right, Princey!” Xane shouted back

They finally reached the bottom of the hill, only to continue shooting forward another several feet across flat land, nearly crashing into a huge snowdrift that almost formed a hill itself. The two sat on the sled for a long, stunned moment, before Marth drew his conclusion aloud: “maybe we’re just a bit too heavy on this, together. Maybe we should try and find another sled.”

* * *

The disk they found to use as a second sled was little more than that - a circular object that could barely fit one of them, and which barely had any way of holding onto it. Marth volunteered to use it, despite Xane’s protest that it would probably fit xem better, both in size and in the amount of daring it would take to even think about using it. They started off down the hills again not long after; Xane hesitated at the top after the adventure from before, giving Marth a few seconds headstart down the hill. He hit a small bump, and without any proper way to hold onto his sled, he fell off and went tumbling down the hill. The prince lay there for a moment, unwilling to get up and find his makeshift sled again.

It was then that Xane finally went speeding down the hill xirself, and if Marth hadn’t been able to hear xem coming down, he certainly felt them, as the very sharp edges of one of the sled’s runners grazed the back of his outstretched wrist.

Xe didn’t even get the rest of the way down the hill before Marth let out a very upset screech of his own.

* * *

Elice was used to her younger brother coming to her with scrapes and bruises, and used to the tears and cries of pain he brought with him. She was slightly less used to him having a shapeshifter companion who was also crying, and very rapidly attempting to apologize for the bruising and bleeding. The injury left by the sled was easy enough to patch up, and didn’t even require a healstave - a bandage and a cookie was enough to quiet Marth. Xane took several cookies, and some reassurance from Marth that all would be well, to quiet down xirself.

It was certainly more eventful than what she was used to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I, too, have been run over by a sled in winter, with someone else on it
> 
> That was honestly the worst vacation


	5. Holiday Family Reunions

From the moment Xane had chosen to warp back to Altea with Marth, rather than remaining in the Ice Dragon Temple with him, Gotoh knew what kind of path the dragon was going to take. There would have been no point to order xem to stay, and no hope that xe’d listen - xe was fickle at the best of times, and telling them to stay would only have met with rebellion, and Xane going anyway.

It was quieter, now, without xem; emptier. While xe had returned a few times over the course of a brief year, xe always seemed too occupied with other things, and never had enough time or energy to run errands. It was always Princey this, and Princey that, and what Princey had done just two days ago. Only once did Xane go an entire visit without speaking his name, and at the end of that, xe promptly announced that they were, apparently, dating, and xe was most likely going to be living at Altea Castle for quite some time. Peering into the guest room Xane had all but claimed as xir own, Gotoh saw that not much had really changed, even in xir absence. Xe hadn’t taken much - xe didn’t have that many important personal belongings in the first place - and the rest of xir things, collections and small hoards of feathers and stones and clothes, were scattered across the floor and over the bed.

The old dragon shook his head, closing the door behind him as he left. He’d leave everything as it was, for now; attempting to clean things up would only upset Xane when xe eventually returned. Somehow, xe found some semblance of order in this chaos, and trying to put things away would disturb that order.

Besides, Gotoh had more important things to do than care for the room of his sometimes-subordinate. Experiments, reading, many, many important things a divine dragon of his status needed to take care of.

All of which could now be done in blissful peace and quiet.

It wasn’t necessarily that Xane was an annoyance, but xe was loud, and couldn’t stay still, and needed attention more than Gotoh could necessarily give - a few decades spent with Marth would probably do some good, in all honesty. Even when Gotoh sent xem on missions that took a year or two to complete, it wasn’t enough time for xir absence to really be noted, not when dragons lived as long as they did. Several decades might be enough to actually start to miss xir assistance.

After all, the arrangement had been born of convenience and convenience alone, rather than any true personal attachment. True, over the years, the dragon sage couldn’t help but feel fond of the younger dragon, and he was certain the sentiment was at least partially returned. But their personalities and ideals clashed, and he knew all too well that the only reason Xane had ever stayed was because - really - Gotoh was something constant, something that didn’t change over the years, and the only one remaining who could actually give xem some sort of lasting understanding. The only reason he still continued to rely upon Xane was because humans were too short-lived and fragile to do the work he required.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Gotoh sank into a nearby chair, picking up a book from a nearby table that he had been meaning to read, but there had never been time, or enough peace and quiet, to do so. Here, now, it was comfortable; there was a fire roaring in the fireplace (more for the aesthetic than any actual need for warmth, though it was nice in times of high stress), the chair was soft and plush, and there was no voice every five minutes, calling out -

“Gotoh!”

...He couldn’t have accidentally fallen asleep for a few decades, could he?

No, no, the voice was too cheerful; Xane returning after Marth’s death would have been miserable. At the moment, Xane was grinning at the sage from the door, letting in a burst of freezing cold wind and snow. “So, it’s apparently tradition in the human world to bring relatives visitin’ for Christmas, and Princey doesn’t really have anyone livin’ besides Elice… So I thought I’d bring the entire family to you!”

Gotoh doesn’t have time to sternly protest that they are not actually related at all, rendering this unnecessary - all briefly entertained thoughts of possible fondness are wiped from his mind. Apparently, when Xane said “the entire family”, xe had meant it - Marth and Caeda were there, obviously, and they had brought Tiki along as well. Of course, as Xane had said, Elice was still alive, and so she had come along as well, bringing Merric with her. But then… the Kris twins had come along as well, and if the sister was coming, she had to bring Katarina with her. The rest of the Seventh Platoon had followed, and if Rody went, his younger sisters had to come as well, and Gordin had to go with Ryan, and…

Just under twenty people wasn’t something Gotoh had expected to entertain for the holiday season, nor was it something he really wanted to do.

“Xane,” he said sternly, drawing the younger dragon aside, “This simply will not do. I am entirely unprepared to entertain guests, and - moreover - I have a reputation to uphold.”

Xane only gave him a toothy grin, pulling a Santa Claus hat from nowhere and putting it on Gotoh’s head. “Oh, relax, it won’t be that bad! Just be a mysterious Santa for the season, instead!”  
This did not solve the present issue - but Xane was off again before any of that could be discussed.

He should have known.


	6. Finding a Tree

"Do we really all have to go out like this to get a tree?" Xane whined as xe clung to Marth's midsection, unsure of what to make of being on a horse in xir untransformed state. "I mean, really, the castle's surrounded by forests! There ain't any reason to go out this far in the freezing cold for a lousy pine tree that won't live through the winter anyway."

Marth laughed, smiling back at xem. "The trees around Altea castle aren't pine, though, for the most part. The ones that are are either too big, or simply not suited for the castle. Besides, the place we're going grows trees specifically for this purpose! We won't be taking anything from the forest, that way, and there will be a whole section of trees already cut for us, in the perfect size, of the perfect kind, and, for the most part, free from all the bugs and things you'd find on a wild tree."

"I dunno, Princey, a tree full of bugs sounds like the perfect snack for me," Xane retorted; Marth groaned and shuddered at the thought.

"Xane, chameleon or not, that is just gross."

Xe laughed at the prince's obvious disgust before turning xir gaze skyward, where, far above them, Tiki soared with Caeda on her pegasus. The baby dragon had been too tired to fly on her own but refused to ride with Xane, who doubted xe could actually ride on xir own in this state, anyway. While Marth was always an option for her, the way Caeda's pegasus looked at xem was much less friendly than the way Marth's mare had, and it was probably for the best that Tiki had time to spend with Caeda on their own, anyway.

Besides, it meant that, for a little while, at least, Xane had an excuse to cling to Marth, instead of the other way around.

It ended all too soon. For all xir complaining about how far away from the castle the tree farm was, Xane found xirself having to dismount far sooner than xe would have liked. The snow and cold never bothered xem, really, but xe could still feel the drop in heat as xe let go of Marth. Still, Marth knew all too well that Xane didn’t feel the cold like most humans - which robbed xem of the chance to use that as an excuse to keep clinging to him.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for Marth’s impulsive need to touch people he cared about to kick in; by the time Caeda landed her pegasus, he was already holding Xane’s hand. “Ready?” he called, though he hardly needed to ask. For all her earlier tiredness, Tiki sped off the moment the pegasus landed, disappearing amidst the rows and rows of trees within a few seconds. Xane and Marth exchanged a look, before the situation truly sunk in, and the two ran after her.

There were many, many trees. As Marth had said, there were many kinds, many sizes, all pre-cut and lined in stalls, tied up with ribbons to indicate size and kind. Xane, however, was currently more keen on finding the whereabouts of xir small dragon child than finding a tree, and xe attempted to push through the stands, just in case Tiki was hiding amongst them-  
No, no, xe was not going to do that. Apparently, there was a reason they were called “pine needles”. The tiny leaves pricked and hurt, and the ends of the branches left a sticky residue all over xir hands and face. Marth gave an amused giggle as Xane pulled back, clearly disgusted - “It’s all right. I hate them, too. That’s why we have Caeda to help.”

Caeda was clearly superhuman. She had no problem weaving her way through, pulling out trees to check them for tags and patches without branches. The tree sap and needles seemed to not bother her in the slightest, and, if anything, she seemed even more excited to be out here! “Got one!”

It was a magnificent pine, towering above all their heads, with branches that almost certainly needed a ladder to reach. Its boughs were sturdy and full, and it didn’t lose all its needles upon being shaken. “That’s fine and all,” said Marth, hesitantly, “but are you sure our horses will be able to carry it?”

Caeda nodded. “They should - I mean, I can lift it easily enough. Worst comes to worst, we also have a small dragon to help!”

Everything went silent for a moment, before Caeda narrowed her eyes at them. “Where is Tiki, anyway?”

It was then that Tiki chose to race back over, holding onto a small bundle. “Marmar! Xaney! I got you a present!”

She scrabbled at Marth’s leg until he finally picked her up, at which point she handed him a beautiful bough. “This was the nicest stick I could find,” she said, sincerely, and Marth looked utterly baffled as he took it from her.

“Th-thank you…? I’ll treasure this stick for the rest of my life, I’m sure.”

Satisfied with his reaction, Tiki turned to Xane and handed xem a much smaller, scraggly stick that had lost most of its needles. “This twig was just okay. It’s yours.”

Xane was less than pleased. “HEY!”

Any further protest was quickly hushed, though xe grumbled all the way to the exit, where they payed for the tree before dragging it out to the horses. The assistance of one of the tree farmers with securing the tree to a sled was appreciated, if unnecessary; Caeda could very easily have handled the tree herself. Before long, Xane was back up behind Marth, and they were on their way home.

“So…… Do I get an early Christmas present now, too?”

“....Tiki.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A day late, but it's here!! With luck, I'll finish the prompt for today, as well...
> 
> Credit to Rosage for the part with Tiki and the tree branches; given their location, it seemed like an appropriate place to add that.


	7. Tree Decoration

One day later, the tree was set, the branches fully fluffed, and, after several hours worth of struggling to untangle boxes and boxes of tiny, colored lights on strings (not helped by Tiki deciding that colorful light strings needed to be played with, and subsequently getting tangled up in them herself), it was ready to be decorated.

The lights took only slightly less time to put up than to unravel; they kept clumping too close, or getting tangled in the tree, or being arranged in terrible patterns - finally, Caeda made everyone else stand aside, and finished the task herself. With that out of the way, she hurried off to the kitchen, claiming she had “other things to do that no one else could,” and left Xane, Marth, and Tiki to put up the remaining boxes and boxes or ornaments.

“And why do we even keep all these?” Xane complained as xe pulled out a box within a box of painted orbs. “Half of ‘em don’t even look that nice! Will they all even fit on the tree?”  
“Barely,” said Marth, quite casually. “They’ve fit every year we’ve had them, for the most part… And most of them are ancient, apparently. According to family history, some were supposedly hung on a tree by Anri himself!”

There was a slight note of bitterness in his voice, as was usual when mentioning anything to do with Anri, but Xane was more amused by other things. “Ancient, you say, at a hundred years old? I dunno, Princey, but I’m fairly certain there’s even a few humans around here who can say they’ve lived that long.”

“...You know what I mean,” Marth grumbled, turning back to the boxes himself. Not long after, Elice and Merric arrived, arms full of tinsel boxes and poinsettias. The flowers were very deliberately placed high out of Tiki’s reach, but the boxes of tinsel were given to her - a mistake, as within minutes, everything in the room but the tree was covered in tinsel.

For a while, all five of them continued on with decorating; Elice hummed something appropriate for the holiday, and, slowly, the boxes of ornaments were emptied. Occasionally there was a crash, as someone (usually Tiki, or Xane) dropped one of the old glass ornaments - but, really, there was no problem, Marth assured. He had broken many ornaments himself, including some of the oldest ones, in his childhood; it was quite all right. There would always be new ones.

Eventually, however, an absence was noted. "Where's Caeda? Shouldn't she be back by now?"

"She's right here, with me," said a familiar voice, and Tiki abandoned her tinsel to rush at him.

"Uncle Rody!" she exclaimed, attempting to climb up his leg. "And Tartar!"

"Yes, yes, it's me," Rody said, softly, putting down the bowls he had been carrying in favor of picking up Tiki. "Sorry it took so long - there were only two of us, and we needed a lot of popcorn for the tree."

"I could have helped," Kris grumbled, setting down his bowls of popcorn. Rody and Caeda exchanged a brief glance.

"No, you really, really couldn't have."

They soon returned to decorating. Rody insisted that he would be able to string the popcorn on his own, politely turning down Elice's offer to do it. "No, really. I'm quite fine - and this way you get to decorate with your brother, instead of just watching him."

There was no further protest, although seven pairs of hands attempting to decorate a tree at once was quite a bit too much. One or two disappearing entirely wasn't much to be noted, nor an occasional disappearance of another. Besides, Rody always had a way with kids; Tiki sticking close by him was nothing unusual. Xane had probably tired of working by now, there was nothing unusual about xem lazing about.

"The popcorn's not salty enough," xe said as xe chewed an entire mouthful of popcorn.

"That's because it was meant to be hung on the tree, not eaten," Rody replied, gently pulling Xane's hand out of the bowl before xe could grab another mouthful.

At long last, all the lights, ornaments, poinsettias, tinsel, and other adornments had been placed on the tree, and the group turned to see how Rody was fairing. "Hey! How's the popcorn string coming along?"

The cavalier looked up from his work, and looked at the empty bowls surrounding him. The popcorn string was barely longer than a few feet. "Not good."

Tiki grinned at him, only the tiniest bit sheepish, as kernels of popcorn stuck between her fangs. "There were so many bowls of popcorn, too! How could you have possibly eaten all that?"

"Look, Rody, I'm sorry about the popcorn strings," Marth began, feeling guilty for his several handfuls of popcorn - but Rody only shook his head.

"I don't really care about those - it's a waste of food, really. But I never got to eat any, myself!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With about ten minutes left, I actually successfully posted this on time for my timezone.
> 
> This is so very self indulgent thanks Rody
> 
> Meant to take place the day after the last chapter, one of the few things in this work that's in some form of chronological order.


	8. Snowball Fights

Xane couldn't help but feel as though xir immunity to cold was being taken advantage of today. When it was discovered that certain important supplies were missing after it began snowing, Marth immediately asked Xane to run out to the surrounding town to find them. "Maaaaan, and I thought I was done with bein' an errand runner for a while," xe whined, before heading out anyway. It wasn't, in all honesty, so cold that no one else could have done it...

Not long after xe went out, xe began to have the sneaking suspicion that something - someone - was watching xem. All around xem, the land was empty; there was no sign of anyone who could be following xem. And yet...

Out of nowhere, a snowball hurtled towards xem, smacking into xir side, and Xane yelped in surprise. Xe turned, hoping to find a source, but none presented itself.

Xe thought xe heard a giggle, but perhaps that was just the wind.

With a loud grumble, xe turned back to the pathway, pulling up xir scarf just a bit further. Whatever. It didn't really matter.

It _did_ matter when another snowball flew towards xem and smacked against the back of xir head, and Xane whipped around, snarling, baring xir fangs at wherever the snowball had come from - and this time, the giggling was definite, and xe could see the hint of blue hair, and a glint of gold, coming from behind a gigantic pile of snow.

Xe should have known. Knowing that Marth was the one throwing snowballs didn't stop xir grumbling entirely, but it certainly eased the defensiveness.

Two could play at this game.

Xane bent down and scooped up a bunch of snow, packing it into a ball as tightly as xe could. Then, staring at that little hint of blue, xe raised xir arm, aimed carefully, and threw.

The snowball turned to powder midair, and Xane could hear Marth's laughter, much louder now. Xe scowled for a moment, before giving in and giving Marth a lopsided grin. All right, xe was defeated; out here in the open, there was no way to defend xirself against the onslaught, and Marth's position made it nearly impossible to retaliate. Besides, xe was certain that the prince had plenty of extra snowballs hidden out of sight.

The obvious solution was to seize control of the snowfort. It would be unexpected, and while chances were it would be exceptionally deadly in a war, this was only a pretend fight, using nothing more harmful or deadly than a firmly packed snowball. Besides, xe was quite resistant to the cold; a couple snowballs couldn't hurt.

With that, xe grabbed for another few handfuls of snow, and took off running towards the snowpile, throwing snow as xe went, not caring where it landed so long as it was flying through the air. Unfortunately, the intended affect was not the same as the one planned; snowball after snowball repeatedly pelted xem, and even reaching the fort didn't help, much. Snow was repeatedly shoved from the top of the pile and onto xir head, and another few snowballs rained down on xem from above.

Finally, Xane reached the top of the pile, and Marth laughed and screeched as xe grabbed at snowballs from his pile, shoving and throwing them at him. The prince stumbled back and slid down the hill, briefly giving Xane an advantage, and the shapeshifter yelled a victory cry as xe took over the snowball pile. Not to be outdone, Marth bent down to form a new arsenal, tucking himself safely behind a tree. Xane pursued, taking an armful of snowballs with xem, ready to retreat at moments notice if something threatened xir hill.

There ended up being no need to. Marth stayed put, satisfied with his new location, and the fight began again in earnest. Both of them were running low on snowballs when it happened.  
A particularly ferociously thrown snowball caught Xane in the shoulder, and xe let out a screech of pain - most snowballs didn't hurt, not like that. On hearing the screech, Marth darted out of his hiding place, eyes wide with worry. "Are you okay, Xane!?"

It would have been the opportune moment to throw another snowball at him, if not for the pain. "'M fine, Princey," Xane lied, clutching xir shoulder. "It just hit harder than I'm used to, is all - I'm sure there was scale there, it should be fine..."

Marth gently pried xir hand away from xir shoulder, touching gently; Xane squeaked in pain. "I think it's bleeding," he said, finally, voice wavering. He bent down, looking at the ground around xir feet, until he popped back up, holding a sharp chunk of ice. "This must've been in the snowball - Xane, I'm so sorry-"

"It's all right, it's all right, I've had worse; at least it wasn't my pretty face," Xane tried to soothe, to no avail. Marth was tearing up, quickly. "Hey, now, I'm the one who's hurt, not you - there's no need to cry - awww, Princey, now I'm gonna cry, too..."

* * *

Crying baby brothers accompanied by crying shapeshifters was rapidly becoming a more common sight, Elice thought to herself as Marth and Xane came by - again. There was a definite bloodstain spreading on xir shoulder now, and when told that it was caused by ice in a snowball, she couldn't help but shake her head at the two of them. Xane yanked back from her attempt to touch the wound, or see exactly how bad or deep it was; rather than persist, or use a heal stave on a minor wound, she handed the ointments and bandages to Marth, instead. 

"Here. You handle this one, Marth. Now, please, take care of yourselves..."

With that, she handed both of them a cookie, and headed back to her gift wrapping.

Honestly, those two....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Marth gets his revenge for the sledding incident in the worst way possible.
> 
> Don't throw ice at people, kids


	9. Sleigh Rides

“No, but, like, are you sure about this? I mean, is the horse even gonna be able to carry us in this?”

Marth giggled as he pulled himself up into the sled beside Xane, kissing the shapeshifter’s forehead. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry, much. This horse was bred for carrying carts, and we barely weigh two hundred pounds, together. It shouldn’t be that big of a problem.”

Xane’s ears twitched at the kiss, before xe directed xir gaze at the horse. “...It is a rather large hellbeast,” xe whispered; as if the horse had heard xem, it whinnied and stomped its foot. Marth laughed, lifting a hand to push back some of the hair from Xane’s eyes.

“Exactly.”

With that, he took the reins, gently cracking them to urge the horse to move. The horse started, more than usual, dashing forward quickly and nearly causing Xane to give one of xir signature lizard screams. Eventually, it calmed down a bit, trotting forward happily as the dragon groaned and slumped against the side of the cart. Xe watched the snowy ground disappear beneath the sleigh, moving ever onward as they continued along the path. Slowly, Xane realized how open and exposed the cart felt, and xe lifted xir head to ask-

“Wasn’t there a human song about this?”

Marth nodded, barely looking up from his duty at the reins. “Yes. Dashing through the snow, and all that.”

Xane snorted as xe remembered their horse’s flighty response, earlier. “Well, we’ve got the dashin’ part down, at least,” xe said, tone try. “Dunno about the laughin’ part, though. I somehow doubt there’s much amusin’ about this… Wasn’t there something about jingle bells, as well?”

The prince grimaced, and shrugged.”There’s supposed to be, I guess… they were always too much for me when I was younger, though. Too much constant noise. You know what I mean.”

“Ah.”

Xe wasn’t sure when xe sank against Marth, smushing xir cheek against his shoulder, or when his arm wrapped around xir shoulder - xe did, however, blame it on the infernal, far too small cart. Honestly, there was nothing really special in trying to reenact a popular holiday carol, and it was, if anything, just a bit uncomfortable.

This was, clearly, why Xane fell asleep only minutes after Marth wrapped a blanket around both of them, and why the prince had to carry xem off the sleigh and back inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dashing through the snow, have some self indulgent gay,
> 
> I almost ran out of ideas today and this was one of the first things to mind.
> 
> Xane and horses usually don't get along it's a dragon thing they can sense it - if xe's transformed into someone else, they might not notice it as much, but otherwise, there's usually at least some sort of distrust between the two parties. Marth's horse, like Marth, is an exception, because Marth's horse honestly does not care as long as Xane gives her a sugar cube.


	10. Snowmen

Early mornings in Altea Castle were quiet, undisturbed, peaceful; while some few may have already woken up, they went about their business quietly, so as not to disturb anyone who might be sleeping. The prince and his shapeshifting companion weren’t exactly early risers, or morning people, after all.

One person, however, was less cautious about disturbing the two. “Marmar! Xaney! Wake up!”

If they hadn’t woken before, they certainly did when a very young manakete jumped onto them with as much force as she possibly could in her untransformed state. There were two very loud cries of protest as she pushed and shoved and rolled on top of them in her effort to get them to wake up. “What is it, Tiki?” Marth groaned, blearily blinking his eyes at the small dragon.

“It snowed overnight!” she shouted, excitedly. Xane lifted xir head from the bed, grimacing as xe did so.

“Didn’t ya already get enough snow?”

Tiki snorted and pawed at the bed. “I wasn’t awake for most of that!” she complained, voice pitching into a whine. “And besides, I didn’t get to experience it with you two…”

She had a very convincing pout, and Marth slowly roused himself to give in.”All right, all right,” he said. “We’ll have a snow day, then… after breakfast. Come on.” With that, he picked up Tiki, carrying her out and towards the kitchens. Xane stayed in bed a moment longer to grumble, and find a pair of pants, before xe followed the pair, as well.

When Tiki had said there was overnight snow, they didn’t quite expect huge drifts all around the castle. Marth quickly retreated for warmer clothing while Xane and Tiki began exploring. By the time the prince came back, the pristine coating of snow had already been quite marred by their antics. Not far from the castle, the smaller dragon was rolling huge balls of snow, while Xane-

Xane was nowhere to be found.

After some searching (there was no help from Tiki, who shrugged when he asked), Marth finally found the shapeshifter, who had sunk several inches into the snow in an attempt to form a snow angel. “Help me, Princey.”

Shaking his head. Marth pulled the shapeshifter back up. “Really, Xane? Stuck making snow angels?”

“Snow dragons, Princey. ...I think Tiki did a better job at hers, though.”

Indeed, there was a large indent in the snow not far from where Xane had lain, too deep and wide for a normal person. Marth was fairly certain those marks were left by a tail, as well…  
Speaking of Tiki, she hadn’t gone far, still rolling huge snowballs. They seemed to be forming shapes, now, a very familiar sort of shape which prompted Marth to ask, “Snowmen?”

The dragon shook her head. “No. Snowdragons.”

“Ah.”

Eventually, three dragons took shape, each one bigger than the last. Xane joined in her efforts, while, a short distance away, Marth decided to make a snow animal of his own - a pointy eared dog, whose ears refused to stay in place, or take the proper shape. “Done!”

They were grand sculptures indeed, or at least as grand as they could be when made by amateurs. “They’re lovely,” Marth said, sincerely. Tiki beamed at the compliment, grinning widely up at him, before pointing to each of her creations.

“Marmar, me, and Xaney!”

With Xaney, she pointed to the smallest of the sculptures, causing Xane to sputter and pout. “Hey! I’m not that tiny, am I?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Snow dragons. Always snowdragons.


	11. Snowstorm

There was nothing unusual about snow or cold in Archanea this time of year, but when Xane attempted to sneak out by a side door only to be met with such a frigid blast of air that it could be felt even with xir usual immunity to cold, xe knew something was up. Retreating in to one of the castle’s windows, xir suspicions were confirmed - outside, snow and ice were blowing, faster and harder than they had any right to be blowing. A sense of dread welled up within xem; it was clearly a blizzard, and it wasn’t about to let up any time soon.

Wearily, xe trudged back through the halls and to the bedroom of a certain young prince - emperor - whatever. He always liked the title of prince better, anyway.

There was no point in trying to leave now, Xane thought, burrowing xir way between Marth and Caeda (they must have come apart in the middle of the night; they had fallen asleep together). Xe was too tired; xir immunity to cold only stayed so long as xe had energy to keep it up. Xe’d start shivering and freezing before long, and xir absence would only worry Marth when he awoke.  
Speaking of waking, Marth shifted, wrapping his arm around the shapeshifter and snuggling up close to xem. The change in temperature was probably much more noticeable to him, a human, in this drafty old castle, than it could ever be to Xane. Slowly, he began opening his eyes, frowning at the darkness of the room. “‘S it morning yet?”

Xane shrugged. “Dunno. It’s kinda hard to tell, right now. There’s a blizzard goin’ on out there.”

That alone was enough to wake the prince, who began to push himself out of bed. “Blizzard? Now?” he asked, pulling on his cape from where it had been tossed over a nearby chair. Xane tried to protest his leaving to check on the storm, but he had already disappeared into the hallway, and, with a glance back at the still sleeping princess, the dragon followed.

Marth stood, shivering, watching out the window with wide eyes. Xane followed his gaze outside; the snow hadn’t let up any from when xe had last looked. If anything, it looked worse.

“...Sooooo. I’m gonna guess you have a free day today, huh, Princey?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where was Xane going, anyway? who knows.


	12. Early Gifts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT COUNTS AS BEING ON TIME BECAUSE I FINISHED IT BEFORE MIDNIGHT YESTERDAY I just couldn't upload until now

“Marmar!”

Marth immediately dropped the basket of boughs he had been working on to pay attention to Tiki, bending down to be eye-level with her. “Yes, Tiki?”

The dragon wriggled excitedly. “It’s the twelfth, Marmar,” she told him, eyes gleaming. “and nearly nightfall, too! Christmas is halfway here already!”

Marth giggled at her obvious excitement, smiling widely. “Yes, it is.”

“Can I have an early Christmas present?”

The smile didn’t drop, but it certainly felt more strained than it had been. He hadn’t had the time yet for shopping, so he had nothing to give her. “I’m sorry, Tiki, but I’m afraid you’ll just have to wait until Christmas for something."

Tiki pouted for a moment, but before long, her attention was directed towards something else. She grabbed for the boughs scattered about Marth's feet, holding them close and grinning up at him. "Awww, Marmar, you shouldn't have! I love you, too."

As genuinely odd as the words seemed, they were absolutely sincere - she seemed overjoyed at the unintended present. The sticks were dumped not far away from him, and she painstakingly arranged them into a nest so she could keep an eye on him as he worked.

Marth sighed and turned back to his basket. Manakete customs certainly seemed odd.

* * *

Xane deserved a present, too, Marth thought as he idly arranged spare ornaments in the basket. Something just as nice and meaningful as Tiki's had apparently been. There were no extra boughs to spare, though; with the bundle Tiki had taken, he barely had enough to fill all the baskets. Could he safely remove something from the tree? No, that was too heavily laden with ornaments to spare a branch.

Finishing up the last basket, Marth turned to see what else he had to unpack. Nestled at the bottom of the box was a plush snowman, complete with a top hat, carrot nose, and stone buttons. As he lifted it out from the box, a button fell off; he scowled as he grabbed it. It was smooth, and dark, like a riverstone, and it felt nice to hold.

There was no way for him to reattach the stone to the snowman, and he already had enough shiny stones.

He wondered if Xane liked rocks.

* * *

Xane had been wandering about the castle, doing what xe did best - lazing about on various surfaces - when Marth approached xem, looking quite giddy. "Early Christmas present," he said, clutching something in his hand. He took xir hand and gently placed something smooth on xir palm, closing xir fingers around the object before stepping back. "Enjoy!"

With that, he was gone again; it took Xane a moment to process these events before xe looked to see what it was Marth had given xem.

Xir heart skipped a beat.

It was smooth, it was shiny, it was perfect and round. It was the perfect item to add to a hoard, to treasure, to love and hold onto.

Xe shook xir head. Marth had no idea what the gift he was giving meant - he couldn't have, could he? This was a gift for for Caeda, not xem.

Still, intentional or not, xe held on to it, tightly. It would be rude to reject a courtship present from someone when xe felt the same way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOAAAAAAAAH WE'RE HALFWAY THEEEEEERE sort of. I just need to finish a chapter for today....


	13. Hot Chocolate

The snowstorm failed to let up, and the lasting effects could be felt throughout the castle. Down in the kitchens, Caeda baked tray after tray of cookies in an effort to warm the place. The lack of light and general dreariness of the day brought down both Xane and Marth; when it was around noontime and the storm still showed no signs of letting up, the prince sighed, and almost went back to bed.

It was too snowy and cold even for Tiki; she took one look outside and sped back in, hiding under a chair and hissing quietly. They let her stay there.

The draftiness didn't help. Xane could feel energy needlessly draining away, and Marth shivered even in his long tunic and cape. When, after dinner, the storm raged on, the group finally decided to stay in one of the smaller rooms with a fireplace. With luck, a roaring fire and their collective body heat would keep them all warm.

It worked like a charm. The smaller space worked better to keep in heat, and it didn't take long before the fire grew enough to start to warm the room. Caeda brought in hot chocolate and her fresh cookies. Additional blankets were obtained and turned into nests on the floor and on the couches. It didn't take long for Tiki to clamber into one, take a sip of hot chocolate, and promptly fall asleep, nose just millimeters from her drink. Xane blinked, shrugged at Marth, and headed to claim a nest of xir own.

How they ended up sharing one when there were so many free nests, and when Marth was certain that Xane had claimed xir own nest before he had, the prince couldn't be certain. Xane leaned against him, eyes half closed, slowly blinking at the fire every now and then. The dragon gave only the tiniest murmur of acknowledgement as Marth tentatively stroked xir hair. Marth let out a slightly louder pleased hum, continuing to gently run his fingers through Xane's hair. Xe nursed xir hot chocolate slowly, struggling to stay awake in the comfortable warmth.

Slowly, Marth pulled the blankets around them; Xane stopped trying to stay alert, and with a final gulp, xe finished off for hot chocolate. The mug was gently placed on a nearby table, and, almost before xe could pull xir arm back into the nest, Xane had fallen asleep.

Marth sighed, continuing to pet Xane's hair.

It would have been nicer if he hadn't drunk all that hot chocolate...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I GOT IT IN BEFORE I WENT TO SLEEP IT'S ON TIME


	14. Candy Cane

Xe'd been sucking on that candy cane for quite some time, Marth thought to himself, and there was still no sign xe planned to stop any time soon. The hooked end had long been broken off and swallowed, but the stick part still hung from xir mouth, seeming to barely grow shorter. Perhaps it was simply to add to the festivity - nothing said festive more than a Santa hat, elfy ears, red and green clothes, and a candy cane.

Perhaps xe noticed the staring, because before long, Xane pulled the candy cane from xir mouth and spoke up. "Want some?"

Marth grimaced - it sounded absolutely wonderful, except - "I don't like mint."

"I know," Xane said with a shrug, licking the sharpened end before putting it back in xir mouth. "It's strawberry."

Strawberry was a much more tempting flavor than mint, Marth had to admit. Hesitantly, he approached Xane, expecting the dragon to break off a piece, or pull it out of xir mouth so he could get a lick.

Xane kept sucking on the candy cane.

"Nah, really. Come an' get some."

The candy cane was obviously staying in xir mouth. Marth wasn't sure what to think of that. Nevertheless, he grabbed the other end in his teeth and began licking and sucking, as well. What had Xane wanted? What was xe planning?

"You know, if you're waiting to get a kiss or something out of this, just asking would have been much quicker. This thing is going to take a while to get eaten."

"Yeah, princey, but - this way is much, much sweeter."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED THE LAST CHAPTER TWICE oh well have the actual chapter fourteen
> 
> this is the shortest one yet I'm sorry there should be at least a few more longer ones... sometime...
> 
> Xane please this is the least effective way to get a kiss


	15. The Nutcracker

“This is so silly?”

Xane and Marth stood inside an Altean shop, gazing over the wares as they begun shopping for Christmas. What had caught the prince’s attention (and now had him giggling in amusement, while Xane simply stared in what may have been disapproval) was a line of wooden figures stationed along a shelf, eyes staring blankly ahead. All were carved in the prince’s image, though there was one noticeable difference.

“Look at their mouths!” Marth blurted out, still giggling as he reached to take one off the shelf. “Hey, Xane, it’s me, your Princey,” he said, moving the wooden piece in the back so it’s mouth opened and closed as his did. Xane batted an ear, seeming relatively unamused.

“It’s a nutcracker, Princey. They’re supposed to look weird,” xe explained, before grabbing a nutcracker of xir own. Without moving xir lips, xe continued in Marth’s voice. “Confounded shops, using my image as a device to sell figures! They shall be collectively chopped to firewood for my own castle, in front of all store owners responsible for carrying them, and all the woodcarvers who made them!”

Marth let out a burst of laughter, waving a hand to try and quiet Xane. “Oh, hush, you’ll worry the storekeeper!” he exclaimed, glancing apologetically at the person manning the counter, who did look quite concerned by the proceedings. “That’s a very good trick, I’ll admit! Incredibly talented… but there’s a very good reason not to injure these poor nutcrackers.”

Xane fought xirself not to blush at the praise, and latched onto the next statement. “Oh? And what would that be?”

For a moment, the prince hummed, rocking on his feet. “Picture this: it’s Christmas Eve, and Lord Gotoh has come by to give you one of these.”

“I dunno, Princey, I kinda heavily doubt he’d come over an’ just give me somethin’ like this.”

‘The point remains. You get the present from him, and, not long after, Tiki knocks it over, and its foot breaks off.”

Xane winced. “Yeesh. Sounds painful - but, it’s wood, Princey. It’s not gonna feel anythin’.”

“Hold on, hold on, I’m not done yet. Due to the personal attachment of it bearing my looks, as well as who gave you the gift, you lovingly patch it up, and, exhausted, go to sleep on the couch. Before you can fall asleep, out of the corner of your eye, you spot Lord Gotoh, perched atop the Christmas tree like some sort of overly large Christmas Dragon Tree Topper.”

“Why is Lord Gotoh sittin’ on my Christmas tree!?”

Marth frowned. “In this story, you don’t question the Lord Gotoh sitting on your Christmas tree. You’re too busy questioning why everything around you is shrinking, and why Medeus is here, only with a mouse’s ears and tail for some reason. Actually, he is a mouse - you deeply question that, as well. He wants to fight you, but the gingerbread army Caeda made for the knights is attacking his mice-dragons. They quickly appear overwhelmed when, suddenly, the repaired nutcracker arrives on the scene. He challenges Medeus to a duel, and, just as all hope is lost, you distract the mouse king dragon thing with a well thrown shoe, and the nutcracker triumphs. The mice run away, the nutcracker transforms and reveals himself to have actually been me all along, and I take you off to the wonderful and sweet world of the sugar plum fairies.”

The prince scratched the back of his head. “I always forget what happens after that. I used to love that ballet, though - the only one I truly appreciated.”

Xane stared at him, slack jawed. “All right, Princey, you humans have some really, really weird ideas of a good storyline.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things I want: an actual Xanemarth nutcracker au.
> 
> Things I probably will never write: an actual Xanemarth nutcracker au


	16. Santa Claus

When Xane had casually tossed a Santa hat on his head and suggested he be a mysterious Santa for the season, Gotoh had thought it nothing more than a joke. Of course, it had to be. It was in Xane's nature to be light-hearted and casually flippant towards authority; besides, the festive holiday season was right around the corner! With a happy home, and a happy family, of course xe'd be in a festive mood, and want to share that with others.

He had not expected Xane to be more literal. He certainly heavily disapproved of the events that led to him sitting on a Christmasy throne, allowing children to approach him and sit on his lap while he listened to their requests for presents.

At least Xane had dived into xir role as an elf and Santa's helper fairly well. Xe seemed to enjoy it, right down to the tacky hat and shoes that jingled with xir every move. Then again, xe had suggested this; it was probably only natural xe would enjoy it.

Rody's younger sisters came first - three girls, from twelve to sixteen. The younger two both wanted to climb on his lap at the same time, though the middle child seems much roudier about it than her younger sister. Rody hung about on the sidelines, looking extremely nervous - he glanced apologetically at Gotoh, and the old dragon nodded in understanding. Raising teenagers was extraordinarily difficult, and Xane alone was testament to that. He could not imagine raising more than one child almost singlehandedly, let raise more than one while being incredibly young. Of course at least one would have to be the noisy and disruptive one.

Thankfully, Ryan was much quieter, and more respectful of space than the others - though that could have come with his age, or his shyness. He glanced back at his older brother several times before spilling his list to Gotoh; Gordin seemed relieved.

Finally, Marth came with Tiki, gently setting her down in front of Gotoh before backing off respectfully.

If there had been anyone he couldn't refuse allowing to climb on his lap, she was the one.

She clambered on up, leaning against the old dragon and stretching up to whisper in his ear. "It's okay. I know you're Lord Gotoh, and not actually Santa," she whispered, looking around as though she was telling some grave secret. Gotoh gave a sigh of relief; at least someone understood...

"But, I know you're very powerful, so could you please pass along this list to the real Santa, along with the message that I've been really, really good this year? Don't try and lie and say you don't actually know him. I know you do. It's okay."

Gotoh sighed heavily, taking the piece of paper from her and casting a long and weary gaze at his grinning subordinate. Really, what had Xane been telling Tiki?


	17. A Ballet

There were many ways Xane could have imagined spending xir evening, but dressed up in human formal wear (and, to xir immense disapproval, socks and shoes) and standing inside the lobby of some fancy schmancy concert hall wasn’t exactly one of them. Xe shifted on xir feet uncomfortably, tugging anxiously at the tie around the collar of xir shirt - only for Marth to interrupt and straighten it out. “It’s all right, Xane. Just for one night,” he soothed, giving the dragon a reassuring smile.

Xane grimaced. “Still… Why do we have to be here, Princey? You explained the plot of this thing to me already, and it’s so… crowded,” xe said, edging away from the elbow of some other patron that had almost jabbed xir side on accident.

“I always fell asleep for act two, though, so I don’t actually remember all of it,” Marth confessed. The lights above them dimmed for a moment, before coming back on again, and he motioned with his head towards the staircase. “Besides, I’m royalty. I have my own private box here, and you’re my guest. We won’t be disturbed up there. Come on.”

Reluctantly, Xane followed; finding out what exactly about the Nutcracker led to Gotoh sitting in xir Christmas tree was probably worth it.

* * *

If it was worth it, it wasn’t by much. The music was perhaps the only good thing, if quite loud on xir sensitive ears. With only dancing to portray the main plot of the production, things felt boring - even if Xane got the jist of what was happening, xe liked listening to people talk, liked exposition and storytelling. The lack of anything verbal felt strange.

At least there was Marth, who seemed quite content and thrilled to watch the scenes play out. At the victory of the nutcracker over the mouse king, he grinned widely, and Xane had to admit a sudden shared enthusiasm. It passed by all too quickly; xe denied the opportunity for a snack when faced with having to confront people again. When act two began, xe was all but ready to quit.

“Can we go home now? You mostly like the first act, right?”

Marth frowned. “No, I just always fell asleep for the second one. Besides, the music is really nice, and I don’t want to miss it again…”

Xane pouted, sinking back in xir chair. “Though… you don’t have to be watching to enjoy the music, and no one can see this box… I’ll always have next year to see act two, I guess.”

The shapeshifter gave Marth a weak half-grin. “Compromise reached.”

They fell asleep on the floor inside the box before the play ended, Xane curled up against Marth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A sort of continuation on the nutcracker theme.
> 
> Tomorrow will have a double update, including the special chapter nineteen, where things get really gay, because it's my birthday and my birthday gift to myself is the gift of Xanemarth.


	18. Christmas Stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Family Bonding Time

"All right, Tiki. Time to sleep. Santa Gotoh's don't visit small little dragon children who aren't in bed by a certain time!"

The small dragon groaned as she flopped onto the covers, wriggling about and glaring up at her guardians. "But I don't WANT to sleep!" she protested, mouth opening wide to show off her tiny fangs. "I thought I was done with sleeping! I refuse to sleep! I'm not even - the least bit... tired...."

Her sentences broke with a long and tired yawn, and she nuzzled up against Marth, where he was sitting on the bed.

"I'd say that sounds like a very tired dragon yawn," the prince said with a chuckle, running his hands through her hair. Tiki pouted up at him.

"Was not! That was a mighty and angry roar of a dragon who does not want to go to bed!"

Xane laughed, flopping on the bed next to her. "Say, I can understand not wantin' to sleep, but havin' worked for the big man myself, I can confirm he won't come until he's sure you're sound asleep - or at least, incredibly good at pretendin'. With all those naps, I'd say you're pretty good at fakin' it if you need to! How about a bedtime story from your ol' pal Xaney? Just to complete the image?"

Tiki frowned, snuggling closer to Marth. "I want Marmar to tell me a story, though!"

Seeing both of them pouting at each other made Marth laugh, and he ruffled their hair. "We'll take turns telling you a story, okay, Tiki? That means more storytime for you."

It was an offer Tiki certainly wouldn't reject, and Marth picked up a book from a nearby table. The cover was brilliantly illustrated with a picture of Santa Claus (or was it Gotoh? Who knew), and Marth began to read. "Twas the night before Christmas..."

* * *

It took five Christmas themed books for Tiki's eyes to finally shut, and Marth finished off his third tale with "and then, of course, Rudolph was proclaimed a great hero for helping Santa and his sled; and so, every year, no matter the weather, he has the great honor of guiding the sleigh."

The book was closed, and the pair slowly got up to leave. Tiki, however, wasn't quite ready yet. "Xaney is dragon Rudolph."

They both stopped; Xane blinked in confusion. "Wh-what? What makes you say that?"

"Xaney the red scaled dragon," Tiki said, voice singsong as she pointed out the remaining scale freckles on xir face. "Had some very shiny scales. Gave up your dragonstone, so all the other dragons laughed at you and treated you like you were something lesser."

Xane flushed red. "H-Hey! I'm very sensitive about my lack of a dragonstone!"

Tiki nodded sagely. "But then you joined Marmar's army, and your special talent proved you more useful than anyone would have thought! You proved them wrong, and should get a place in history as one of the divine helpers of the great Hero King... And as the best big brother, ever."

Xane sputtered, flushing brighter, but soon - "Hey! You're just sayin'that to get on Gotoh's good side, aren't you?"

Whether she was actually asleep or just pretending, Tiki gave no answer.


	19. Mistletoe

Xe's not sure what to think, the first time. It's all so sudden, so unexpected, the lips pressing gently to xir nose. Before xe even had a chance to react, he'd already pulled back, smiling widely at them, clearly satisfied with himself.

"Princey. What the hell," Xane said, rubbing xir sleeve over for nose, as if somehow that would wipe away with it the fluttering in xir stomach. Marth only smiled wider, bouncing on his feet  
"Look up! You're under the mistletoe, and it's traditional to kiss whoever's under it when you cross paths! I couldn't exactly let the opportunity slip away from me..."

Indeed, when Xane looked up, there hung a plant with green leaves and white berries. Marth, seemingly satisfied now, bounced off to wherever he had been going, and Xane mentally cursed that he had the right plant, and there was no need to educate him on the difference between holly and mistletoe, and that he had left before xe could say anything else about the tradition of mistletoe.

Xane _hated_ the tradition of mistletoe.

* * *

It wasn’t like xe had really wanted to go to the party. It was Marth’s insistence, it was always Marth’s insistence. “It will be fun!” he said, though Xane knew xe’d derive only the tiniest bit of joy from potential pranks, if any at all. “It’s for close friends, really. I’d love to see you there.”

Xe couldn’t resist that. Much as the ideal of being considered a close friend of a human made xem balk, made xem want to run for it, hearing Marth call xem a close friend…  
Xane couldn’t let him slip away, and if going to the party would keep him happy, then so be it.

Thankfully, Marth’s close friends didn’t mean the entire army, this time. Elice, Merric, Caeda, Tiki, the platoon that made up his guard, and the soldiers he had escaped Altea with so many years before were all there, but that was it; it was small, it was cozy, it was beautifully decorated, and there was a constant supply of cookies and candy canes and hot chocolate being brought in.

On the downside, it was too small for Xane to blend in well. Xe stuck out amongst the other members of the army, people xe had never tried to get close to. Occasionally someone glanced at xem, perhaps questioning why xe was there, but that was it. Besides Marth, the only person xe really knew well was the head of his guard (and probable boyfriend), and the look in Kris’ eyes on spotting xem made it clear that pranking people here wouldn’t be appreciated.

With nothing else to do, and no one to talk to, xe gravitated towards Marth, and while Caeda wound up piled between her Kris twin and Katarina, Xane found xirself being clung to by a prince.

“Careful there, Princey,” xe said, the smallest twist of a smile on xir face. “We don’t want anyone thinkin’ anythin’ about us.”

“I don’t really care what other people think,” Marth replied, huffing quietly. As if to prove how little he cared, with all the same slowness and gentleness of the night before, he kissed Xane, and for whatever reason, the shapeshifter found xirself kissing back -

Before pushing the prince away. “Princey. Enough with the mistletoe already.”

Marth blinked in confusion, frowning. “Oh - I - I can understand completely if you don’t want to be kissed but - erm - er - what mistletoe? There wasn’t any over here last time I checked…”  
A quick look confirmed this to be true - there was not a sprig of mistletoe in sight above their head. “Xane? Er, Xane, I am sorry though, I didn’t think, I just wanted-”

“Awww, hush, Princey.”

At some point, Luke did end up dangling mistletoe over the two and laughing, to the general disapproval of all - Xane and Marth were just a little too wrapped up to care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME have the Gay Chapter
> 
> Briefest Explanation: The Kris Situation detailed in this story has both Kris' (male and female) as twins. While this was planned ahead, I didn't exactly. think ahead to give them different names. By the time I mention female Kris her twin was already written as Kris. No other names ever sounded as good.
> 
> It's easy to tell which is which usually because they're both gay for a blue haired royal.


	20. Christmas Dinner

"Hey, Xane! Don't go yet, you'll miss Christmas dinner!"

The shapeshifter halted in xir tracks, turning to look at Marth. Had it been that obvious xe was trying to leave early? The Christmas party had gone on long enough, and xe was starting to feel jittery around all the people gathered there. "Um. Christmas dinner? Weren't there enough snacks already?"

The tables had been filled with plates of cookies, and Xane had devoured quite a lot of them earlier. Xe'd even picked up a few to stow away for later, as xe snuck around the castle to prank a few unsuspecting guards. Surely xe didn't need an actual dinner.

"Maybe, but, the Christmas dinner is traditional! We used to have it every year, before the wars. All the leftovers go to people who might not have had any Christmas dinner, otherwise - and that's a lot of leftovers."

A lot of leftovers? Xane tilted xir head. "Princey, just how big is this dinner?"

Marth smiled, almost apologetically. "Did I call it that? I suppose it's more of a feast."

* * *

It took Xane a while to arrive at the dining hall. When xe did, xe was shocked at just how much food there was - almost more than xe had ever seen in xir long life. Not even Marth calling it a feast could have prepared xem for the amount of food xe was seeing on the table before xem.

Xe was fairly certain that was a whole roast boar, and that was a pheasant, and there were geese and ducks, and, resting atop a plate of pears, sat a single partridge.

"Princey, what the heck! You said a Christmas dinner, not 'all the birds from the Twelve Days of Christmas, roasted'!"

Marth smiled sheepishly and shrugged. ""Oops?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's very short, whoops! I'm trying to get these all done on time so I only have to upload maybe one of these catchup chapters tomorrow, and then have just one upload Christmas to finish this all off!
> 
> The end is in sight...finally


	21. The Holly and the Ivy

Very gently, Marth pulled off Xane's feather headband, before combing through xir now loose hair with his fingers. Free of the headband, it flopped everywhere, getting in xir eyes and all over xir face. Marth suppressed a laugh, and Xane grumbled and crossed xir arms, slouching in xir seat. "Oh, it's not that bad. I can still see through it."

Marth gave an apologetic smile, before setting to work on braiding xir hair. "Sit up a bit straighter, okay?"

It took quite a bit of grumbling and work to get the dragon to sit back up, and it took even longer to finish the braids - between Xane's wriggling, and Marth's tendency to pet xir hair more than doing any real work - but at last, it was done.

"All right, all right, I'm pretty now - can I have my headband back?"

"Actually, I was thinking something just... a little more festive."

Xane rolled xir eyes, waving a hand at xirself. "Princey, I'm in red and green and gold - how much more festive can I get?"

Smiling, Marth gently set a tightly woven wreath of ivy on Xane's head, tucking in a sprig of holly behind xir ear. "Like that."

"...I think I'd rather have my feather headband back," Xane said, after a long moment. Marth shrugged.

"It was worth a shot."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slowly...


	22. Christmas Fever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for this chapter having mentions of bugs and various illnesses, so if you're squicked out by that this is probably a skippable chapter.
> 
> Last upload for tonight; three more uploads to go!

Elice sighed as she removed her hand from her younger brother’s forehead. By now, a somehow suffering Marth accompanied by an overly worried Xane was beginning to feel awfully commonplace… “He’ll be fine, Xane. It will be all right. It’s just a mild fever - a day’s rest should have him back on his feet, at least. He’ll be better by Christmas.”

Marth made a congested noise from where he lay, snuggled comfortably under the covers of the bed. Xane looked at him, and back to Elice, not entirely convinced. “You sure about that? He doesn’t sound good. Even a fever can kill a human.”

Elice shook her head, smiled gently, and bent down so she could hold eye contact with the much smaller dragon. “Marth has been sick every Christmas I’ve known, and he’s pulled through every single time. This is incredibly mild compared to some instances, and he has the best care possible - it’s highly doubtful that he’ll die, even if he doesn’t enjoy it.”

Marth groaned, ducking entirely under the covers as he felt the beginnings of a story coming on. “Really? Every year?”

Elice nodded. “Yes, since he was three. The first few years, it was probably a simple stomach virus - though, perhaps, a few times it was just over-excitement for presents coming the next day. He’s had a few colds though, like this… but nothing could be worse than the tick incident.”

At this, Marth pulled even further back under the covers, groaning loudly. “Gods, I HATE the tick incident.”

“The tick incident?’ Xane asked, tilting xir head; Elice nodded.

“Yes, the tick incident. Marth had been playing out in the forest a few days before Christmas, and he came back with a rather… vicious tickbite. He was feverish and ill, and he could barely move out of his bed for Christmas - it was the worst I’d ever seen him.”

“And the medicine to treat it was disgusting,” Marth added, voice muffled by the bed covers.

“And the medicine was disgusting,” Elice repeated with a sigh. “He hardly wanted to take it - it took a bribe of chocolate to calm him, and all that crying couldn’t have helped his condition much.”

Xane shuddered. “Yeesh - I’d have been terrified out of my wits,” xe admitted. Elice frowned.

“That wasn’t the worst of it, though.. After Christmas dinner that night, it was discovered he had another tick still on him, so he needed an additional week or so of treatment to feel better,” she said. “It was pretty terrible, though; probably one of the worst things he could have gone through and still lived.”

She smiled reassuringly at Xane. “But, if he lived through tick fever, I’m sure he’ll make it through a small fever like this. Don’t worry too much - if you’re upset, you’ll upset him, and then it will take him even longer to recover.”

With that, she gave both of them a piece of chocolate and, with a final ruffle of Marth’s hair, she left the room, leaving Xane to watch and make sure that everything was just as all right as she had said.


	23. Stockings

The stockings had been hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that Saint Gotoh Claws soon would be there - at least, they had been when Marth last checked in the room. Now they were strewn all over the floor, chunks of fabric torn from them scattered about the place. At the center of it all lay the perpetrator, still chewing and knawing at one last stocking.

"Hey! Let go of that!" Marth yelled, racing over to attempt tugging the remaining stocking from Xane's mouth. The shapeshifter struggled to hold on, making garbled noises as Marth pulled. Xe was not strong, though, and it didn't take long for xir teeth to ache enough that xe let go, flopping back to the floor.

Marth sighed and shook his head at the mangled fabric. "You know, we're going to have to replace all of these, somehow. Tiki won't be happy if her stocking has nothing on it on Christmas day, all because you chewed it to bits."

Xane pouted up at Marth and rolled xir shoulders. "They looked so chewable, though!"

"They're not for eating, though, or tearing to shreds - at least keep your damage light," Marth said, rubbing at his temples to ease an oncoming headache. Xane frowned.  
"I guess I just really don't like socks."

Marth took one final look at the damage surrounding them and sighed. "I'll say."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't give your dragons socks, kids.


	24. Gift Shopping

It was hard to get someone a present when they already had everything, especially when they were also a prince who could probably buy everything they could possibly want for the holidays.  
At least, that had to be the reason Xane had no idea what to get Marth for Christmas, and not because xe hadn't exactly been paying attention to things he wanted. Of course xe had to know what Marth liked! Xe spent so much time with him, after all.

Now that the holidays were rapidly approaching, though, Xane couldn't help but second-guess xirself. There were probably enough plush objects on the prince's bed already, weren't there? The library of Altea's castle was well stocked on history books; anything new and interesting would have to be from old dragon history, and that xe'd rather tell on xir own. What sword could xe reasonably afford, that would be fancy enough to make it worth the expense? Xir hoard wasn't exactly valuable; xe rarely if ever had even the gold for an iron sword. Nothing xe could give could be more precious and valuable than the Falchion, anyway.

Briefly, xe thought about how, if only xe hadn't tossed xir stone all those years ago, perhaps xe'd have been able to take a fang and craft it into something, as Naga had ages ago. It wouldn't be anywhere near as powerful, certainly - perhaps only as strong as iron, if that (xe had never been very strong or powerful, not even as a dragon). But still, it would have been something personal, something of xir own, something xe could have crafted and Marth could have held dear, and at least had displayed proudly on the wall - if his obsession with xir fangs was anything to go by, it might have been perfect, especially when combined with his love for swords.

As it was, Xane didn't have any fangs to spare, and even at their largest, they couldn't even make a small knife, let alone a sword. It did give xem an idea, though, and late at night on the eve of holiday festivals, when all other presents had been laid out under the tree, and when Marth and everyone else had fallen fast asleep, xe roused xirself from xir pretended sleep to creep quietly through the halls and put xir plan into action.

* * *

It wasn't like Xane was a mysterious enigma of a person, even after they were dating. This was certainly not the case, and any inability to tell if xe even really wanted anything for Christmas was entirely Marth's fault for not being able to read xem better.

...All right, perhaps it was a combination of the two that left the prince so puzzled and clueless. Did Xane even like anything? Xe liked dragons, and history, or at least Marth thought - unless he was, perhaps, wrong? Would Xane actually appreciate things relevant to this, or was he just projecting his own love of both subjects onto xem? Was there something else in the world xe would prefer? Surely there had to be something xe wanted.

That was part of the reason for this shopping trip, in all honesty - to find out what Xane would and wouldn't like. After all, who would expect anyone to buy them some secret gift while they were out together? The nutcrackers had been too odd for everyone involved, and nothing else seemed to catch Xane's attention or interest for very long, if at all.

Maybe Xane was the kind of person who wasn’t really interested in conventional gifts like that. Xe always seemed to travel light, anyway - he doubted the shapeshifter ever had much on xem at any time. Mostly, Xane seemed to like Marth’s affection, and presence. Perhaps it was understandable, given that they only had such a short time together, what with age differences and all. So what was small enough to be easily portable, and was some distinct gesture of love and affection?

Slowly, something Tiki once told him came to mind, as did Xane's distinct lack of soft objects to cuddle, despite xir tendency to cling to anyone who showed xem even the slightest bit of affection..

It was easy enough to give Xane a list of things to buy, and enough gold to buy everything. It was harder to make sure the shapeshifter was truly not a part of the crowd as he drifted through the market.

Now, to find what he wanted...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHRISTMAS IS COMING, IT'S PRACTICALLY HERE!
> 
> Aaaa one chapter away from finishing it all! I don't think I've ever finished an entire multichaptered work, not since I was a thirteen year old baby writing Soul Eater fanfiction... we've come so far.


	25. Christmas Morning

It was bright and early that Christmas morning when Tiki barrelled into the room, jumping up onto everyone sleeping on the bed. “Marmar! It’s Christmas morning! There’s lots of presents under the tree - lots of presents for me! C’mon, we need to go and open them all!”

Marth groaned as he woke, painfully, shifting around under the covers. “All right, all right just let me -” he paused, yawning - “wake up a little bit more, first.”

Tiki wasn’t exactly content with this idea, pouting angrily as she moved off the prince. He yawned and turned to wake Xane - Caeda was already stirring, most likely, and the shapeshifter had a tendency to sleep through a lot of things - only to find an empty space between him and his wife, long grown cold. Panic rose in him, enough to remove the last bits of early morning tiredness in him that excitement for the day hadn’t. Where could Xane be? Xe did have a tendency to sneak off, for whatever reason, and disappear for some time, but this early on Christmas day? They had already bought and wrapped all of Tiki’s presents, and all of Caeda’s; xe couldn’t have done some extra last minute shopping and wrapping, could xe?

“Did you see Xane earlier this morning, when you woke up?” he asked Tiki; she shook her head. “Nope! Xaney’s not usually up at this time though.”

That only increased Marth’s worry, as further suspicions about Xane’s whereabouts raced through his mind. Xe had left after both wars, could it be xe was leaving like that again? Had all the love and affection of the past season simply been too much, after all? He hadn’t noticed any signs of stress, but Xane was better at hiding them than most…

“Come on, Marmar! Caeda’s up already, and you are, too! I want my presents!”

Tiki’s lack of worry for the shapeshifter wasn’t exactly comforting, but Marth reluctantly climbed out of bed, anyway, trailing behind her through the halls and into the room where the tree had been set out.

As Tiki had said, there were lots and lots of presents under the tree - she gave a tiny squeal, racing to pull one out - and there, laying at the foot of the tree, bow in xir hair, was Xane.  
“Hey, there, Princey. Looks like I’ll be your Christmas present this year.”

Marth stood for a moment, silent, before stomping over to the shapeshifter. Xane blinked up at him, seeming to prepare xirself for any reaction - the prince bent down, scooped Xane up into his arms, and smooched xir cheek. “The most wonderful, beautiful, amazing, perfect, talented Christmas gift I could have asked for.”

Xane’s face went red.

“If you’re done having your moment there, Marmar… can I unwrap my presents, now?”

* * *

It only took around thirty minutes for Tiki to claw, gnaw, and tear her way through all her Christmas presents. The moment she finished, she tucked all her presents into a pile beneath her, a mighty Christmas hoard. “All right. I’m done. You can start on yours,” she told everyone.

“Thank goodness. Me and Caeda are much younger than you, Tiki, and we’re also excited to unwrap presents.” Marth told her, gently. Tiki wrinkled her nose, attempting to process this fact, before deciding to give up and sleep on her hoard instead. The prince laughed, turning to pull out a rather large box from under the Christmas tree.

“This is for you, Xane.”

Xane put a hand to xir heart, batting xir eyelids at Marth. “Aww, Princey, you shouldn’t have! ...But thank you,” xe said, taking the present away and tearing away the wrapping paper. There was a box inside, and xe quickly popped the tape holding it together so xe could reveal….

Another, differently colored square of wrapping paper. Confused, Xane tilted xir head at Marth, who only smiled in response. The paper was torn away to reveal yet another box, and when that box had been opened, Xane pulled out a bag with tissue paper sticking out from its opening.

Inside was another beautifully wrapped box.

“Are you serious, Princey.”

“Just unwrap the present, Xane.”

And so Xane did. Xe bit, clawed, chewed, scratched, and battered the poor present, shredding layer after layer of paper and cardboard. The large gift from before slowly became smaller and smaller, until -

“All right, all right, that’s enough of that. One more layer, I promise,” Marth said, gently prying the small box away from Xane. The shapeshifter snorted, but proceeded with caution anyway. Inside the last box, nestled in tissue paper, was a very small stuffed chameleon. Xe fell silent, slowly pulling it out and holding it close against xem.

“Princey… I can’t carry this everywhere with me,” xe murmured, before rubbing xir cheek against the smooth fabric of the toy. Marth smiled softly.

“Still, it will be nice to have, for when you need it - and, once you carry it around long enough, it just becomes habit. Easy.”

Xane stayed snuggling the chameleon for a while longer, before turning to look back under the tree. “Wait, wait! You’re not done yet! There was something else in that box!”

The shapeshifter paused, turned back to the box, and dumped out the contents into xir hand. It was mostly tissue paper, but something else fell out, substantially heavier than tissue paper. “...Another rock?”

Marth nodded. “Yes, Xane. Because I love you, very, very much.”

He paused for a moment, before, “...I asked Tiki what it was about you and rocks from me. I’m really, really hoping advice from a ten year old is accurate.”

Xane didn’t say anything, but the answer was clear enough from how xe threw xir arms around Marth, clinging tightly. “...Love ya, too, Princey.”

“Merry Christmas?”

“Merry Christmas.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finished, it's done, hallelujah! Pops a bottle of champagne  
> I also finished it on time, Merry Christmas to me.


End file.
